


Searching for Strays

by Leopardmask



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Angst, Based on that bit where Scar went looking for cats and came back blue, Cub can have a little swearing as a treat, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Non-human hermits - Freeform, Rescue Mission, Vex Magic, hermitcraft season 7, i think, seriously though it's only one bad word
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24794599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leopardmask/pseuds/Leopardmask
Summary: Two hermits set out on missions to bring home beloved friends.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 101





	1. Scar went looking for Jellie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scar has been out in the tundra, searching villages for days. He just wants to find a cat. Weeks. How long? He’s starting to get cold... so cold...

Scar landed clumsily in a snowdrift just outside another village. He shivered, pulled his robe closer around himself, and hurriedly trotted close to the lanterns dotting the paths. They didn’t give off much heat, but it was something. Not for the first time, Scar berated himself for not preparing better before he went flying off on a wild cat chase. 

He should have at least put on some pants. 

Scar flagged the attention of the nearest villager. “H-hello, sir!” he called. “Are there any cats in this village?”

The villager, of course, didn’t understand him. It held out a bowl of stew with a questioning “hrmm?”

“N-not what I was looking for, but thank you.” Scar searched his pockets, finally finding a few emeralds to trade and gratefully accepting the warm stew. He noticed the sky turning pink with sunset. “Can I stay here for the night?”

The villager did not respond, having already wandered off to its own house. Scar sighed. At least he had brought a bed along. He set it up in a building with a furnace and drifted off to sleep.

\-----

The next day was the same as the last few. Scar woke up, searched the village, found no stray cats, and flew off to the next village. The cold wind bit into his face, but flying was better than walking through the snow.

He found another village. Searched it. No cats. Scar was out of emeralds to trade.

Another village. A polar bear and an iron golem stared each other down, each daring the other to attack first. No cats.

Night fell with no villages in sight. Scar surrounded his bed in torches. The cold seeped through his blankets anyway.

Scar trudged through the snow on foot. His elytra had broken. He had tried to get back in the air using wizardry and, in desperation, Vex magic, but magic took too much energy. Scar was too tired to fly. The sun glared down on him, but provided no warmth. He would just go home, but he didn’t even know where home was anymore. He could barely see anything except unending whiteness.

He saw a dark smudge in the distance. A village? A way out of the snow? Scar stumbled toward it. It was a village.

He tripped and fell face-first into the snow. He was so tired. The village... the village could wait. He’d explore tomorrow. He wasn’t even cold right now. It’d be fine.

Scar took one last look around. He found himself face to face with an orange tabby. Scar smiled. It wasn’t the cat he was looking for, but at this point he would take what he could get.

But he’d befriend the cat later. He just needed to take a nap first.


	2. Cub went looking for Scar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scar has been out in the tundra for too long, and his friends are getting worried.

Cubfan paced around his little pyramid. Scar had said he’d be gone on a cat-hunting mission for a few days. It had been two weeks since he’d left. A number of the hermits were worried, but none more so than Cub. He knew better than anyone how Scar’s... unique approach to preparation and adventuring tended to get the man into the strangest predicaments. There had been no death messages this time, but that was almost more concerning. A death meant he was active, trying to do things. And unless he’d left his bed alone after sleeping, a death would bring Scar back to the populated center of the world.

Or, at least, a normal death would. Cub had heard rumors - legends, really - about unusual circumstances that it was possible Scar had gotten himself into. No one else had any idea Scar might be in any situation worse than simply lost and roaming the world.

Cub shivered, despite the heat of the desert.

<cubfan135> Scar’s been out of contact for way too long. I’m going to go looking for him.

<Grian> Hope he’s okay :(

<cubfan135> If I don’t respond to messages for more than 3 days, something bad’s happened

<Xisuma> He’s ventured too far to know his exact location, but I can point you in the right direction

<cubfan135> Much obliged

<joehillssays> Godspeed, Cub.

  
  


<Xisuma> -> <cubfan135> I haven’t told anyone else this yet, but I lost Scar’s coords completely at some point yesterday

<cubfan135> -> <Xisuma> What??

<cubfan135> -> <Xisuma> Why didn’t you tell me this sooner??

<Xisuma> -> <cubfan135> I thought it might be a temporary hiccup. He’s so far out that some particularly dense trees could block his signal. I was waiting to see if it came back

<Xisuma> -> <cubfan135> But you saying you were going looking made me realize that something might be wrong

<Xisuma> -> <cubfan135> I’ll send you his last known coords. Bring him home.

Cub checked his ender chest one more time. Lots of rockets, plenty of food, three spare sets of elytra. Obsidian and a flint and steel. Building blocks for shelter, including a few magma blocks for warmth. Judging by the few messages Scar had sent when he first set off, and the occasional shiver Cub had felt while working on his pyramids, Scar was somewhere cold. That was why Vex fairy stories were on Cub’s mind. He also changed back into his usual suit and lab coat. A  _ shendyt _ and linen sleeves wouldn’t cut it anywhere colder than a beach.

\-----

Cub glided over the expansive tundra, scanning the ground below. He wasn’t quite at the coordinates he’d been given, but anything could have happened between then and now. He didn’t want to miss anything.

Movement? Cub dove into a landing to investigate. A skeleton with glowing eye sockets and blue-grey tatters hanging off its head and shoulders turned to face him, drawing its bow.

“You’re not who I’m looking for,” Cub complained, raising his shield just in time to block the arrow flying toward him. Another arrow fell short as Cub launched himself back into the air, not interested in dealing with any mobs that he didn’t have to.

There was a village well within sight of the coordinates Xisuma had given him. Cub touched down in the middle of it, garnering a few stares from the villagers. An orange tabby rubbed against his leg and he absently reached down to pet it.

He still remembered a bit of Villager language, having dealt with them so extensively in the past. “Greetings,” he tried. “Have any of you seen a human pass through here recently?”

The villagers murmured among themselves. One of them pointed at Cub.

“A human other than me,” Cub clarified.

More murmuring. Finally, a few of them shook their heads. Wherever Scar was, he hadn’t reached this village yet. But he had to be somewhere close...

A villager chattering at him brought Cub back into focus. “What was that?”

The villager repeated itself, and this time Cub caught that it was telling him about some new undead that had the village worried. It was acting oddly, wandering the outskirts and avoiding their golem, and it wouldn’t go away.

“Thank you,” Cub replied. “That might be exactly what I’m looking for.”

\-----

It didn’t take long for Cub to find the entity that had the villagers worried. He knew what he would find, but the sight still gave him pause and made his heart ache. It was a Stray - a skeleton like the one he’d fought before, its glowing eyes betraying its former Vex-affected soul. This one, though, wasn’t wearing a simple ragged grey cloak. It wore an almost intact purple robe and a squashed, matching hat. Slowly, almost reluctantly, Cub pulled out his communicator and sent a message to the public chat.

<cubfan135> I found him

Ignoring the buzzing as the other hermits sent cheers and questions, Cub stepped closer to the Stray and drew his sword. 

He hesitated just a little too long before striking. The Stray’s first arrow struck Cub in the shoulder. Cub grimaced at the creeping cold. He propped his shield up just in time to block another arrow and sank to the ground behind it. Shivering, he pulled the arrow out. Another one thunked into his shield. The cold inside him retreated somewhat, now that the arrow wasn’t feeding it, but Cub still felt it slowing his movement as he drew his crossbow and loaded the arrow into it.

Cub’s eyes glowed blue, and with them, so did the blood staining the arrow in his crossbow. He reached around his shield and fired. Despite his shaking hands, the arrow hit the Stray directly in the chest. Magic crackled across it. It faltered, then moved forward, intent on getting around the shield. Cub grabbed another arrow. After a moment of decision, he brought it to his still-bleeding shoulder, then loaded it into the crossbow.

Once again, the blood on the arrow glowed with magic. The Stray stepped in front of him, bow aimed. Before it could shoot, Cub brought his crossbow up and shot the Stray point-blank. It jerked, fell, and vanished, leaving behind the inventory of a player: enchanted tools, food, rockets, an empty bowl, and two stacks of raw fish.

**GoodTimeWithScar was slain by cubfan135**

The chat instantly filled with confusion. Cub sent a quick message.

<cubfan135> Someone check worldspawn

Cub set down his ender chest, found a regeneration potion, and downed it as he waited for a reply. He sighed in relief as his shoulder wound closed and warmth returned to his bones.

<joehillssays> Nobody is at worldspawn except me, Cub

<cubfan135> Shit, that means he left his bed out here somewhere

At least, he hoped that’s what it meant. Cub got to his feet, retrieved his ender chest and shield, as well as all the dropped items he could carry, then took to the sky in a widening spiral.

Night was falling when Cub found it. A lone white bed, sitting in the middle of a field of torches. He dove immediately, knocking over a number of torches as he landed. The blankets lay on the bed in a lump that could only mean something was under them. Cub rushed over and lifted the blanket. Underneath was Scar, shivering and miserable but very much alive.

Scar flinched away from the sudden extra chill, then turned to see what had caused it. He squinted, not quite believing his eyes. “...Cub...?”

Cub gave Scar the biggest grin Scar had ever seen and threw his arms around him, pulling Scar into a tight hug. Scar, blanket still wrapped firmly around himself, did his best to return the hug, savoring the warmth almost more than the reunion. When Cub tried to pull back to look at him, Scar just mumbled and pulled Cub close again.

“Scar, you idiot,” Cub scolded affectionately. “Let’s get you out of here.”

“Mmm, but the cats,” Scar mumbled into Cub’s shoulder. “I found some, Cub.”

“We can come back another time to get you a cat,” Cub said firmly. “Right now, we’re going home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I was planning on just having these two chapters. I think this chapter's ending is a very good wrap-up point, and it has the double meaning of "Stray" and the parallels between the titles and summaries the way I intended them. But I also have some ideas I might want to write about how these two actually GET home. Should I leave the story where it is? Or should I add a chapter 3?

**Author's Note:**

> This is partly me killing time while I wait to get back to the plot of New ConVex and partly me having Ideas based on some more Vex headcanons in a Discord server. Specifically, we came up with the idea that Strays are what happens when a Vex mage/Vex-possessed person dies. I also wanted to try my hand at writing something a bit darker than my usual fare...


End file.
